A Simple Breeze
by Evilkat23
Summary: The other cats often poked fun at her. She hated the name her mother has called her. Skinnypaw. She only thought her life was going to get worse. A story of an apprentice whose life of love, betrayal, and unfortunate accidents leads her to self-fulfillment.
1. Chapter 1

_Ok so, let me say that yes this is based on an RP between me and my friend, and unlike the other story I did (That I'll probably get rid of) I can see this one being a more believable story than the crazy story I made. So let me give some background on the character this story will focus on._

 _Skinnybreeze. So... That picture I have up for this story, yeah, that's the actual picture I found of her when I made this character. That picture popped up under google and I remember seeing how silly that cat looked and I thought, "This cat is just going to be a funny background cat, probably the punching bag of a joke" or something like that and suddenly as this RP went on between me and my friend, we realized... We love her._

 _Also, before I go on. I really can't be bothered to add the clans and who leads them, just know it's the original four, past Firestar, and Bramblestar, WAY past them it's in the WAY future. It's just easier that way._

 _They are in Thunderclan btw, just to let you guys know._

 _Ok last thing. P.S. Skinnybreeze is a Cornish Rex,_

"Hey, SkinnyWORM, how are you doing today!" Mintpaw took pride in poking the She-cat. Skinnypaw kept her ears low as she lightly batted the dead mouse at her paws. Mintpaw in all honestly seemed nice at first and Skinnypaw was hoping for some sort of friend in the apprentice den, but that was proven to be too much to ask for it seemed like. Mintpaw wasn't the only one in the apprentice den with Skinnpaw. No, she had her siblings, Graypaw, and Willowpaw. All three of them have one common trait of being, well, gray in fur color.

Mintpaw was the only one that was truly a solid gray she-cat, with green eyes. Her brother Graypaw was long furred with a white chest and paws, and then there was Willowpaw, also long furred, but he had tabby stripes running through his long knotted fur making him more unique looking compared to his siblings.

"Honestly, Mintpaw, do you have anything better to do than to insult a fellow clan mate?" Came a slight saving grace. Flamepaw.

Flamepaw stood next to Skinnypaw, his bright orange, and black coat shimmering slightly in the daylight as he looked at the gray she-cat.

"Oh come on, Flamepaw, it's just a bit of harmless fun, it's not my fault she's sensitive," Mintpaw snorted. Flamepaw only rolled his orange eyes at her and pointed at her bitterly.

"How would you like it if I made fun of you because of something you couldn't control?" Flamepaw demanded.

"You leave my littermate alone, just go back and be with your ' _mate'"_ Willowpaw butted in, actually getting into Skinnypaw's face, spitting the word 'mate' out like it was a death berry in front of her.

"She didn't do anything, she hasn't even said a word, so why don't _you_ leave her alone, and grow up, Willowpaw," Flamepaw snapped back at the gray tom. The two of them were soon glaring at one another before Flamepaw was the one to step down.

"C'mon, Skinnypaw, I'll share some of my prey with you," Flamepaw softly told her as he leads the she-cat away. The two of them sat down good ways away from the other apprentices.

"I'm not hungry," Skinnypaw huffed out as she looked away bitterly. Flamepaw only sighed and laid down.

"Don't let them get to you."

"I hate my name," Skinnypaw huffed out as she flopped down on the ground. "I hate that I look like this," she complained as she curled up a bit, her thin tail lightly tapping the tail.

"How do you think your mother feels?" Flamepaw asked her with a bit of a cocky voice. "At least you have fun, so be thankful for that."

Skinnypaw huffed loudly as she looked over towards the warrior's den, her mother, Nakedpelt, just emerging.

Her mother didn't get that name for nothing. Her mother had no fur, none, just pink saggy skin, a rat tail, and two large yellow eyes. Her chin was very little, giving her a kitten like a face. The skin around her face sagged like the rest of her, it also wrinkled giving her a very...Interesting expression whenever she'd look at someone, they couldn't tell if she was angry or not.

Skinnypaw let out a low sigh and gently pushed the prey below her around in thought. That was true, at least her name wasn't as cruel as 'Nakedpelt' and she had _some_ fur to keep her some what warm during the leaf-bare months, whereas her mother had to sleep next to Cloudstorm, the fluffiest tom cat in all four clans, during leaf-bare and even leaf-fall. Skinnypaw was pretty sure that her mother and Cloudstorm might be mates, it wouldn't surprise her, Cloudstorm has actually shown interest in Nakedpelt for a while.

Cloudstorm was not Skinnypaw's father. Skinnypaw never met her father, according to what her mother had told her, she's a 'Skyclan' cat, but they had to leave due to reasons unknown, Thunderclan was nice enough to take them both in when Skinnypaw was just born. Skinnypaw only knew that her father had to be from this 'Skyclan' a part of her wanted to meet him. Licking her paw, Skinnypaw swiped it a few times over her ear before looking back at Flamepaw.

"I'm going to get some water," She mewed to the tom, Flamepaw only flicked his ear a bit at her.

"You really don't want anything to eat? You know you can't eat again later, right? Not with the prey being scarce."

Skinnypaw shook her head quickly at the tom, "No, give it to Brighteyes, she, and her kits need it more than I do right now." She told him before scurrying off towards the forest.

Skinnypaw liked the forest, it was peaceful and she was alone with her thoughts. Often she'd thought about what she would change about her, her looks, what she wouldn't give to look like Brighteyes.

A normal fur coat, a face that didn't look like she got squished by a monster and then stretched out, normal sized ears instead of the giant leaf ears she was cursed with. Oh, a normal looking body instead of the thin one she had. With Brighteyes you couldn't see every bone structure starclan gave her. For Skinnypaw just every single thing about her seemed so... wrong.

Getting to the lake, she peered at her reflection and frowned. The only thing she ever truly liked about her looks was her fur color. She was a dappled white tortoiseshell, black, orange, and white. The part she really liked, for no reason, was the patch of black that ran down her left front leg, She honestly knew she'd be pretty... with a normal looking body and reasonable fur length.

"You know-"

Skinnypaw let out a gasp and turned, to her surprise, she saw Willowpaw padding towards her, instantly, she frowned and backed up a little.

"-I really think that Mintpaw is jealous of you." Willowpaw finished as he sat down in front of her. Skinnypaw's ears went back a little.

"Ha, jealous? of what? My dazzling large ears?"

"Your legs. You're easiest the tallest cat in the apprentice den. You can jump into trees with a single bound. You're probably going to be the tallest cat in all of the clans with those legs of yours," Willowpaw told her with a shrug as he walked closer and started to drink out of the river. Skinnypaw looked down at her paws and wiggled her toes a bit as she looked up her legs. Was she really that tall? "...I also wanted to apologize, according to Graypaw, I acted like a kit back there, so, I'm sorry," Before Skinnypaw could say anything to Willowpaw, the apprentice bounded away quickly leaving her in the forest a tad confused.

Twitching her ears she sat down and started to drink from the lake. Looking up towards the Windclan boarder, she saw a pure white cat on the other side lapping the water up as well, next to the white cat was Flatnose, another white calico like Skinnypaw, she was heavily pregnant as she had to waddle and squat low to the ground to lap up the water. The white she-cat... was that Redeyes or Coldfang? She could almost never tell the difference between the two Windclan cats, the cat looked up from the water and Skinnypaw saw it, red eyes.

"Hello, Redeyes," Skinnypaw greeted half-heartedly. Redeyes only twitched her nose at the apprentice before turning and walking away, leaving the very pregnant Flatnose to her water.

Skinnypaw huffed out before walking back to camp, Jaytail, her mentor actually met her at the entrance, instantly her heart thumped a bit as she looked at her mentor. Jaytail had long black fur with a white underbelly, white paws, and a white stripe that ran from between his eyes down to his black nose. His long fur made her slightly jealous as she watched it move with the movements of the wind.

"Oh. Hello, just going to make dirt." Jaytail informed her as he strutted away quickly with his head held high.

"Alright then," She sucked in a deep breath and just walked back to camp, leaving Jaytail to do what needed to be done. Sitting down next the apprentice den she watched Mintpaw and Graypaw play happily with one another, the two of them trying to pin the other down.

"Moping won't get you anywhere in life. You know that." Came her mother's scraggly voice. Nakedpelt padded up to Skinnypaw and looked down at her daughter, Skinnypaw had her eyes on the ground.

"I'm not moping," Skinnypaw mumbled bitterly.

"Don't mumble, you know I hate it when you mumble."

"... Why do they make fun of us? Is it just because we don't look like them?" Skinnybreeze questioned as she looked up at her mother.

"Yes. A lot of them are cold hearted like that, but, I want you to understand that not everybody is that cold, and that coldness will not last forever. Their teasing and jeers will halt once they realize something."

"... What's that?"

"That you're still their clan mate, and you know what else?"

Skinnypaw had her ears perked up as she looked at her mother with wide eyes waiting to see what she was going to say next.

"That's something you have to show them, so. pick yourself up, pick up your ears and tail, and go out there and show them that you're the best clan cat they have ever seen." As Nakedpelt told her this, Skinnypaw stood, puffed out her chest, perked her ears and tail back up, and grinned at Nakedpelt.

"I'll do my best! I'll show them! I'll be better than the best!" Skinnypaw boasted loudly and quickly turned. "I'll prove it now! I'm going to come back with two squirrels this time! TWO! After all! I was told I can climb into trees with a single bound!" With that, the only thing left of Skinnypaw was just a dust trail leading to, and out of, the camp entrance.


	2. Chapter 2

Leaf-fall left, and following right after that was Skinnypaw's most hated season of all, Leaf-bare. The air chilled to freezing temperatures and the plants around them died leaving them very little prey. It wasn't all bad, every night she got to sleep next to Flamepaw as his thick fur kept her warm in the freezing nights. So, that was a plus.

Skinnypaw walked into camp after Jaytail, Jaytail had a pitiful mouse in his jaws, while she carried a tiny shrew. Together they placed their prey down in the very little fresh-kill pile. Skinnypaw felt her bones rattle and shake as the cold weather seeped past her pathetic excuse for fur making her shiver violently. Jaytail seemed unaffected by it as he just shook his long thick fur almost as if to mock her.

"Good job. Why don't you go a head and give a couple of those to the queens, and we'll call it a day. Alright?" Jaytail asked her softly. Skinnypaw nodded weakly to him as she continued to shake against the cold weather. Grabbing some of the decent looking prey, she trotted over to the nursery. She was welcomed by the slight warmth of all the bodies in the nursery as she waltzed on in. Brighteyes, and Lightfur were both in the nursery, their newborns all suckling at their stomachs.

Brighteyes, She's the mate to Bearpelt, the deputy of the clan. By her stomach were, Shimmerkit, Snowkit,, and Jaggedkit, Silently, Skinnypaw placed a shrew next to Brighteyes, who happily took it. She then walked over to Lightfur, and her liter of Creamkit, Sootkit, and Whitekit. She gave Lightfur the mouse. Swallowing a bit, Skinnypaw looked at the kits by the two queens and honestly wondered if she were ever to have kits of her own. If she did, who would they be with? Flamepaw?

With a simple shrug to herself, Skinnypaw turned and walked out of the nursery, leaving the two queens to their kits.

Once out of the nursery, Skinnypaw stretched her long body out, and lightly scratched at the ground beneath her paws. Finishing up by stretching out her hind legs, Skinnypaw yawned loudly. That was when a harsh, cold wind swept by as quick as possible. Skinnypaw cried out loudly as the wind almost knocked her off of her paws balancing herself quickly she found herself shivering violently once more. Sniffing bitterly, she hurried off towards where Cloudstorm was sitting outside of the warrior's den looking as though this weather was nothing but a breeze.

"Hello, Skinnypaw." Cloudstorm greeted her warmly, his insanely thick fur keeping him warm during this cold time.

"H-Hello, Cloudstorm. You don't think I-I could sit next to you, to warm up?" She asked shivering.

"Of course you can, your mother is here as well."

"Hello."

"Ah!" Skinnypaw jumped when she realized her mother was under Cloudstorm, her entire pink body hidden by Cloudstorm's thick white curly fur as she suddenly stood up, making it look like Cloudstorm had four extra legs. "Ah... I don't want to be that close to you, I'm just going to sit... here." Skinnypaw sat next to Cloudstorm and sucked in a deep breath as she scooted closer to the tom hoping to get warm.

None of them spoke as they just sat trying to remain warm during this cold time. That was when something cold hit Skinnypaw's tail, looking down, she saw nothing but looked up at the sky. "Oh great. It's snowing," Skinnypaw muttered softly as she watched the white flakes started to fall from the sky onto the ground below.

"Skinnypaw," Flamepaw came trotting up to the trio quickly, he swallowed a bit hard as he looked at her. "I'm going on night patrol tonight with Bearpelt, Pinknose, Mintpaw, Bravefire, and Graypaw." Flamepaw told her, and instantly Skinnypaw couldn't suppress the groan. That leaves her in the cold, with only Willowpaw and Blackpaw, Both equally bitter.

"Sorry, I tried to reason with Bearpelt-"

"It's fine. I'll live." Skinnypaw told him softly as she stood up and away from Cloudstorm.

Flamepaw sighed out and gently rubbed against her cheek. Skinnypaw frowned a bit at the sudden affection given to her.

"Uh..." Was all she could say as he finally backed away from her. "Like I said I'll be fine." She put his mind at ease backing up away from him for a moment, she tilted her head to the side as she looked up at the sky, the sun setting while the snow started to fall a little faster around them.

"Right. I need to get going," With that, Flamepaw walked away to where Bearpelt was waiting for him as well as the others. Skinnypaw shook where she stood as the patrol left for the night. Skinnypaw only sighed and decided to try and get some sleep, hopefully the den will keep her warm for the most part. Getting to her moss bed, she gently pawed at it, circled once, twice, three-

"Just lay down." Willowpaw, who was on the other side of the den watching her, demanded.

"Sorry..." She muttered as she flopped down and curled herself up tightly hoping to get some semblance of sleep.

She did sleep, but not for long. A cold gust of wind came blowing into the den waking her up as she shivered violently. Bits of snow flying in the den, landing on her causing her to stand up quickly. The temperature had dropped violently in the night, now making her shiver even more violently than before. She needed warmth. Looking around at the two cats sleeping, she turned to Blackpaw, the she-cat sleeping peacefully, Skinnypaw honestly didn't want to wake her, she didn't want to wake Willowpaw either, but-

Another sweep of wind came in causing her to shiver and shake once again. She needed to choose. Deciding on Willowpaw for no other reason than his fur was longer than Blackpaw's, she trotted up to the tom and lightly nudged him.

"Willowpaw," She whispered softly.

"W-What?" Willowpaw asked her softly as he opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"I'm cold. Can I sleep next to you for the night?" She asked him softly, her ears low as she could feel the cold invade her body causing her tremble.

"What?" He asked once more, his ears perking up ever slightly.

"It's cold. Flamepaw is off on night patrol, I need someone to sleep next to. Please." She sniffled softly as she continued to quiver due to the cold around her.

"... Fine, but I don't want you to make a habit of it, alright?"

"Yes, of course."

Laying next to Willowpaw, she purred at the warmth his fur gave her, being use to sleeping under Flamepaw's paw she moved Willowpaw's paw so she could have her head under his chin and be as close to the tom cat possible. Breathing out with a happy sigh, Skinnypaw nuzzled his neck happily, welcoming the warmth around her. "Thank you," She purred joyously as she wrapped her tail around his.

"Y-Yeah, get some sleep..."

Skinnypaw woke up cold and alone. Looking around she got up, cold and freezing, she made her way out of the den. The moment her paw touched the cold snow, she felt her very thin fur ripple as she stepped back, her lone paw print in the snow.

"Are you coming?" Jaytail asked her as he came up to her, the snow not bothering the cat one bit. "It's time for a patrol."

"I..."

"C'mon, lets get going. Don't let a little snow stop you." Jaytail urged her. Skinnypaw cringed as she stepped into the cold snow again, the wet snow seeping into her thin fur. Still she took in a deep breath and tried to walk with Jaytail. Her paws became wet instantly, and she didn't like it at all. She had to keep her complaints in silence.

"Now, we're running low on prey, so today we're mostly going to be hunting, the queens are really going to need as much as they can get soon." Jaytail told her as he moved his busy tail slightly. Skinnypaw nodded weakly as she tried to follow along with Jaytail. The two of them left the camp rather quickly, it didn't help Skinnypaw at all, the cold actually worse outside of the camp. Sniffling Skinnypaw tried her hardest to not let the cold get to her, but it was becoming worse and worse, making her shiver harder with each second outside.

"We're splitting up." Jaytail stopped and told her as he looked down at his apprentice. "We'll cover more ground with the other apprentices out there as well, hunt well."

Skinnypaw nodded weakly as she tried hard to conceal her shivering from her mentor. With that, Jaytail turned and trotted away from her. Skinnypaw let out a soft sigh as she went her own way through the snow. Her thin fur not helping her at all. Shivering bitterly, her teeth clattering together, Skinnypaw sniffled before licking her chest. She was going to be a warrior! She couldn't let this little bit of cold get to her, like Jaytail had said.

That didn't stop her from shivering though. So, even though she was cold at the moment, she crouched down, her underbelly against the cold wet snow, making her squeak out. Shifting around she stayed low to the snow before shifting and looking for prey. She looked around, her yellow eyes narrowed as she was filled with determination to find some prey. So, shifting through the snow she paused when she saw it, a plump squirrel that was also shifting through the snow for something, probably something to eat. Feeling her heart leap at the find, she shifted on her hunches, forgetting about the cold for the moment. She positioned herself, and got ready to leap at the prey. So with determination all throughout he body, she leaped and crashed right into someone else. Leaving them both dazed for a brief moment. The squirrel fled from the site. Skinnypaw saw the squirrel leave and groaned out.

"You mouse-brain! That squirrel was mine!" Willowpaw suddenly snapped at her showing that he was the one she crashed into her.

"No! It was mine! I saw it first!" She got to her feet and snapped at the tom.

"No you didn't. I've been hunting it, you just stumbled upon it," He walked past her, his tail whacking her nose belatedly. "Just stay out of my way! Go back to camp clearly you want to be there anyway, I can see your whole body shivering." With that he bounded away, probably to go after the squirrel again, leaving her there for a moment.

She then narrowed her eyes, that tom was something else! Somewhat nice to her one moment and rude to her the next! She was going to show him, she was.

So with a small bit of bitterness and a lot of spite filling her, Skinnypaw ignored the cold and hunted like she never hunted before. Still, with it being leaf-bear she didn't catch a whole lot, but in the end she came back to camp with three mice, which to her felt impressive. Jaytail met up with her, a shrew in his mouth he gave her a nod, "Good job, Skinnypaw." He gave her a little bit of praise as the two of them headed back to camp. She stopped when she saw Willowpaw, already in the camp with his mentor, the squirrel from before in the small fresh-kill pile.

Willowpaw walked right by her, said nothing, and just walked on by her. Skinnypaw bitterly snorted at him and dropped her three mice off before feeling the cold return to her body. Her paws were numb, and she couldn't feel most of anything really. So, with a shivering body, Skinnypaw made her way towards the apprentice den as fast as possible. Flamepaw was already fast asleep from doing night patrol, so without a second thought, Skinnypaw wiggled herself under the tom to warm up. She felt Flamepaw move a little, but he said nothing as he allowed the she-cat to warm up from the cold.


	3. Chapter 3

In all honesty, Skinnypaw didn't expect Flamepaw to wake her up in the middle of the night.

"Skinnypaw, do you want to go hunting with me?" Flamepaw asked her, Skinnypaw, still sleepy and dazed lifted her head.

"Wha-? Flamepaw, it's snowing." She half-whined when she looked outside to see the snow falling down from the sky at an alarmingly fast rate.

"I know, but, the clan could really use the fresh-kill, it'll just be a quick hunt, please?"

She could only sigh and stand up, "fine, fine," She agreed as she walked out with him. Flamepaw quickly rushed out of the camp, so not to get caught by anyone. Skinnypaw quickly followed after him. With in seconds, her thin fur was already getting damp, she honestly didn't want to be here.

Skinnypaw lightly shook her thin fur as she tried to get the falling snow off of her. She quietly trotted over towards Flamepaw.

"It's too cold to hunt," She complained out loud towards him. "I can hardly feel my toes."

"Stop whining, we need all the prey we can get, so get to it," Flamepaw told her as he gave her a rather bitter push. through the snow, away from him.

"Urg. fine," She snapped back at him. Without turning around she started to walk through the snow. She wasn't joking about the snow making her toes cold, and her feet beyond numb. It was getting to the point that her legs were starting to get numb as well. Still, she tried her best to ignore it to the best of her abilities. She could feel the chill run down her spine almost every other heartbeat. Her breath felt ragged as she could see the air escape her mouth in small uneven puffs.

The snow was coming down harder, and harder. Her ears were becoming cold, as well as her nose. Where was she now? All she could see was white.

"Flamepaw!" She tried calling out, but because of the cold it really came out as, "F-Fla-Flame-Flamepawww..." it was weak. She felt weak. Her teeth chattered horribly together, she could no longer feel anything. She moved along her breath was completely uneven it made her heart rate beat faster, and faster, she could hear it in her numb ears.

Walking blindly she tried again to call for her friend, "Fla-Fla... Fla.. Fl..." She couldn't get it out.

' _Skinnypaw.'_

Perking her ears up, she looked towards where the voice called for her. It wasn't Flamepaw's voice, it was much deeper than his voice. She could see a figure just a little ways away from her. Trying to get to the figure before her, she slowly walked forward.

"H-He... hello..." She could only whisper, she started to feel sleepy. Getting a little closer she could now see the cat before her.

The cat, a tom, looked a lot like her, fur wise. He had very thin fur that seemed to curl at the ends. His tail was thin, much like hers. His fur was all black at the top, but his underbelly, chest, and chin were white along with his. He, much like her, had large white ears, and long, long white legs.

Skinnypaw got closer to the tom, "hey, c-can... can y-you he-help? I can't-AH!" There was a loud crack and before she could do anything else she felt the ground give a way and her whole lower body was plunged into the icy water of the lake. Managing to keep her head above the water by clawing at the ice, Skinnypaw whimpered out softly.

 _'Your mother was right to get you away from me...'_

Skinnypaw tried to get up out of the water, but she couldn't, she didn't have the strength. She couldn't feel anything, she couldn't feel her paws, her legs, her body, nothing.

' _LOOK AT WHAT SHE DID TO ME!'_ The tom was suddenly in front of her, his entire throat missing from his body, leaving just a bloody hole, showing his spine, and his head now twisted to the side, she could see the bones in the hole from his wound, the bones from his neck broken each in a horrific way.

Skinnypaw let out a loud yowl, so loud she could hear it echo around her. In freight, she let go of the ice and fell into the water. She tried to get to the surface, she could feel her heart beat slowing down with as she tried to swim. She could see the bubbles escape her mouth. Slowing down, Skinnypaw could feel her whole body slow down-

* * *

Willowpaw felt someone poke his side, waking him up. Looking over, he looked at Mintpaw, his sister steering at him wide eyed.

"What?" He sleepily asked.

"Flamepaw and Skinnypaw left a long time ago, they haven't been back... I'm worried,"

"They're probably getting ready to be ' _mates'"_ Willowpaw mocked bitterly with a huff.

"I mean it... Willowpaw, I think we need to wake someone."

"... Fine..." Getting up, Willowpaw walked with his sister out of the den and paused once he saw how much the snow had picked up. "Oh..." He mewed now feeling a tad worried for Skinnypaw, the she-cat hardly had any fur! What was she doing outside of the camp in a time like this? Forget his jokes, he felt horrible not realizing they had left earlier. This was too cold for Flamepaw, and he was just as fluffy as Willowpaw.

Willowpaw beat his sister towards Doestar's den.

"Doestar!" Willowpaw woke the leader quickly. Doestar jumped, and looked at him, her eyes wide.

"What?! Are we being attacked?!" She ordered as she got ready to rush out of the den.

"No! Flamepaw and Skinnypaw are gone! They haven't been back, I'm getting worried." Mintpaw spoke for Willowpaw, and Doestar flicked her ears at the two of them.

"... Never wake me like that again, not unless we're being attacked. Come. We'll search for the two of them." Doestar breathed out softly as she started to calm herself down. Willowpaw nodded and allowed Doestar to pass him.

"It's too late for those two to be out, and too cold as well..." Doestar muttered to herself as she bounded out of the camp, Mintpaw and Willowpaw followed her. Looking down at the two of them, Willowpaw watched as she seemed to be thinking. "Okay. I'm smelling two different paths... I'm seeing two sets of footprints as well... Willowpaw, Mintpaw, you two stay together, follow those footprints. I'll stick with these. Stay safe." She ordered the two of them stiffly before bounding off after the footprints. Willowpaw wasted no time following the footprints with his sister.

Willowpaw could feel the cold seep into his thick fur around his paws, chilling him to the core.

"Skinnypaw!" Mintpaw cried out as she jumped through the snow.

Willowpaw stopped, causing Mintpaw to stop. They both heard it, a loud and low 'crack' that sounded through the whole forest echoing around them. For a moment they only looked at one another trying to figure out what that sound was, then, it hit them both at the same time,

"THE LAKE!"

Willowpaw felt his legs pump as he ran as fast as he could towards the lake, he felt his heart pump harder as he charged towards the lake. As he ran, he heard a loud scream echo through the forest. He ran faster, faster than he ever had. So fast that he left Mintpaw in the dust.

Willowpaw got to the lake, he skitted to a halt at the edge of the lake. He didn't see a soul in sight, it honestly made Willowpaw's heart painfully ache as he searched around the lake in a panic. Finally, he saw it, a single hole in the lake, showing where someone had fallen in. Without a second thought, he jumped.

"Willowpaw!" Mintpaw cried out, but it was too late. He felt the cold water seep into his thick fur, weighing him down, but he didn't think about that. He could see Skinnypaw, the she-cat slowly falling down into the water. She wasn't moving. Swimming to her, Willowpaw pushed his hatred of water to the side as he paddled over and grabbed her by her scruff. Pushing himself up, Willowpaw swam back to the surface. Breaking through the water, Willowpaw paddled over towards the bank. With the help of Mintpaw, the two of them got Skinnypaw up to the surface. Willowpaw jumped out of the water and gave his heavy wet fur a good shake. He felt cold, but it didn't matter to him. Leaning down, he sniffed Skinnypaw, hoping she was still alive, thankfully, she let out a low and loud breath. Making the two of them breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Put her on my back. We'll get her back to the camp. Poor thing must be freezing," Mintpaw lowered herself towards the ground, Willowpaw, cold and shivering, picked Skinnypaw up, and placed her on Mintpaw's back.

"Hey!" Doestar came rushing towards them, she was alone, it made Willowpaw wonder about Flamepaw. "Oh great starclan, Skinnypaw... come, Flamepaw is already back in the camp. I'll talk to him later."

With a flick of her tail, Doestar showed the two of them back to camp. Willowpaw felt his whole body shake as the cold was now seeping into his fur horribly. He wanted to warm up, and fast. Making it back to camp, Willowpaw looked at Flamepaw.

Flamepaw had his ears down as he kept his eyes glued to the floor as he was, rightfully, currently getting chewed out by Bearpelt.

"-Mouse-brain! leaving in the middle of the night! You could have killed Skinnypaw for Starclan's sake!" Bearpelt snapped at Flamepaw. Honestly, Willowpaw could have stood there all day listening to that mouse-brain get chewed out. However; he knew he couldn't for two reasons, one, he was too cold to stand outside, and two, he was more concerned about Skinnypaw than smirking at Flamepaw's misery.

"What were you thinking?!" Bearpelt demanded, Willowpaw stopped just outside of the medicine den, honestly, that was on his mind as well, what was on Flamepaw's mind? Why did he drag Skinnypaw out of bed?

"... I..." Flamepaw hesitated.

"Well?!"

Flamepaw cringed, his ears low as he let out an embarrassing sniffle. "I just wanted to prove that we were warrior worthy." He finally admitted.

"Well, you didn't! Your idiotic thinking got Skinnypaw injured! you also know better than to leave the camp without a mentor or another warrior, let alone at night in the middle of a snow storm! No, if anything, you've shown that you are not ready to be a warrior! Get back to the apprentice den, I will have your punishment ready for you in the morning." Bearpelt finally finished as he gave Flamepaw a good nick in the ear, before pushing the apprentice back to the den.

Willowpaw quickly made his way back towards the medicine den where Mooseleap was already helping Skinnypaw.

Mooseleap clearly couldn't do much to help the she-cat except lay next to her. His thick brown fur helping the she-cat warm up.

"Do you need anything?" Mooseleap asked Willowpaw as he looked at him.

"Can I lay with you guys?" He asked rather embarrassed as he shivered. Mooseleap nodded towards him, Willowpaw waltzed over and laid on the other side of Skinnypaw. It was like lying next to a block of ice she was so cold. Just what was Flamepaw thinking?! Warrior worthy? Nice to know he'd risk Skinnypaw's life to prove that he can be a warrior! Willowpaw felt himself become more and angrier as he looked down at Skinnypaw's shivering frame. Sucking in a deep breath, Willowpaw remembered how she likes to sleep. So, moving around a bit, Willowpaw gently rested his head on top of hers and allowed her to rest under his paw.

Once he was relaxed, Willowpaw lowered his ears and shut his eyes. He was pretty tired, and right now all he wanted was just some sleep.

"How is she?"

Willowpaw flicked his ears up as he heard Nakedpelt speak to Mooseleap. Willowpaw didn't open his eyes, he didn't want them to know he was awake just yet.

"She should be alright. With Willowpaw next to her, she'll warm up in no time... she did mumble something in her sleep..."

"What?"

"Sageleaf, I don't know anybody by that name, do you?"

"... No... but, she will be alright?"

"Yes."

Apparently, that was all Nakedpelt needed as she then left the medicine den, it sounded like she left in a hurry. Willowpaw finally opened his eyes. Looking down at Skinnypaw, he looked at the she-cat. Skinnypaw was still fast asleep, he breathing now back to normal, and her fur dry.

"Hm..." Getting up, Willowpaw gave a nod to Whiskerpaw, Whiskerpaw nodded back at him before walking up to his mentor.

Willowpaw paid him no mind as he looked around for Nakedpelt, but he knew the warrior wouldn't be out in the snow for long. No, he knew where she was. Walking through the snow, he poked his head in the warrior den. Nakedpelt was sitting alone, shivering- no... sobbing. Willowpaw blinked.

"Nakedpelt?" He asked her softly. Nakedpelt looked up at him and shook herself very quickly to try and hide the fact that she had been crying.

"Willowpaw. Thank you for saving my daughter." Nakedpelt told him as she leaned down and gave the apprentice an appreciative lick on the head. Normally, Willowpaw would back away from the weirdly pink, furless warrior, but, for once he felt a tad proud at the lick.

"I couldn't have done it without Mintpaw waking me... Nakedpelt... who is Sageleaf?"

"Nobody you need to concern yourself with." Nakedpelt tone changed drastically, from thankful to snappy in less than a second. "You don't need to be listening in on my conversations either, now, shoo." With a quick movement of her paw, Willowpaw was shooed out of the warrior's den.

"... Sagleaf... how odd..." Willowpaw hummed in thought as he turned. He'll let it go... for now.


	4. Chapter 4

Skinnypaw stood outside of the Medicine den as she watched the ceremony, next to Whiskerpaw. The medicine cat apprentice keeping her warm from the cold weather.

"I, Doestar, leader of Thunderclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices, Willowpaw, and Mintpaw, they both have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them both to you as a warrior in their turn," Doestar spoke proudly. Willowpaw and Mintpaw both standing beside her looking beyond excited. Doestar paused for a moment before turning to Willowpaw, ushering him to come over to her, "Willowpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Willowpaw puffed out his chest, "I do!"

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Willowpaw, from this moment you will be known as Willowstorm. StarClan honors your Bravery and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan."

Doestar rested her head on Willowstorm's, and Willowstorm licked her shoulder.

Doestar then turned to Mintpaw, Willowstorm backed up and allowed his sister to step forward as Doestar took a deep breath.

"Mintpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do!" Mintpaw mewed excitedly.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name, Mintpaw, from the moment you will be known as Mintstare. StarClan honors your Spirit and Enthusiasm, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan."

Like before, Doestar rested her muzzled of Mintstare's head. Mintstare licked Doestar's shoulder, and everyone, including Skinnypaw, yelled out their two new names.

"Mintstare! Willowstorm! Mintstare! Willowstorm!"

The only one not shouting was Flamepaw. Her friend was sitting off in the shadows of the apprentice den, sulking horribly.

Flamepaw's punishment was harsh but just. Not only was he now going to be an apprentice for longer, but he also had to take care of the elders for a moon, and he wasn't allowed to go to the gathering tomorrow night. Needless to say, he was rather bitter about the whole thing. It was his own fault. Yeah, Skinnypaw felt bad for him, however; she couldn't help but feel it was fair, she didn't get punished as Doestar had told her, "What happened last night was punishment enough for you, I hope you've learned your lesson."

Skinnypaw watched as Willowstorm and Mintstare both walked forward, ready to do their silent vigil.

"Good job," Skinnypaw spoke to Willowstorm as she stepped forward slightly. Willowstorm looked at her slightly confused, his ears back and eyes wide. He said nothing to her as he then skirted around the she-cat, and made his way towards the camp entrance. Skinnypaw watched him leave with a bit of a frown, well, he has a vigil to do, so that's why he didn't say anything to her. Yeah. That was probably it.

"Brrr..." Whiskerpaw huffed out as he stood and moved away from her. Skinnypaw watched him go and let out a soft sigh. Shivering, Skinnypaw got up, ready to leave when Jaytail walked up to her.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her.

"Much better," She purred to her mentor.

"That's good, you need to be more careful in the future, Skinnypaw." Jaytail started to lecture her, Skinnypaw felt her ears go low as Jaytail continued to lecture her. "You could have died, even if Flamepaw told you to come along with him you have better common sense than to go with him. He's not your mentor, I am." Jaytail snorted at her.

"Yes, I know, I got the same lecture from Doestar and Bearpelt, all I can say is I'm sorry and it won't happen again. Trust me, I don't want to do that again..." She mumbled softly to Jaytail her ears low.

"Good. Now, we'll pick up training again tomorrow, keep your claws sharp," Jaytail turned and trotted off.

Skinnypaw finally walked into the apprentice den where Flamepaw was now sulking in his moss bed.

"Hey? Do you mind if I sleep next to you tonight?" Skinnypaw found herself asking him. She watched as his ears went back in a rather irate matter.

"You know what..." The black and orange tom slowly stood, his voice laced with enough bitterness that caused Skinnypaw to lower her ears and back up. "No!" Flamepaw snapped turning to her so quickly in made her jump and back away further against the wall. "I'm so _sick_ to death of you and your neediness!"

"F-Flamepaw..." Skinnypaw found herself up against the wall of the apprentice den now, Flamepaw now in her face.

"If you hadn't of ran off away from me last night, I would be the one with my warrior name instead of being stuck in this den with you!" He snapped against.

"I'm sorry-"

" _I'm sorry. I'm sorry,"_ He mocked loudly, "Do you say anything else? Aside from that! For Starclan's sake, you can't do anything when it's cold out and when you do you just whine and complain about how cold you are! Why are you and your mother so... _useless_ to Thunderclan?!" Flamepaw stopped instantly, seemingly coming back to reality when he saw the actual hurt in her yellow eyes. Breathing heavily, Flamepaw said nothing as he just turned and walked back to his bed.

"... Wow, some friend you are," Came Graypaw's voice as he came trotting into the apprentice den. "I mean, I and my siblings might poke fun at her, but we wouldn't go so far as to call her useless, that's just harsh."

Skinnypaw only shut her eyes and said nothing to anyone, she couldn't think of truthfully anything to say to Flamepaw or Graypaw.

"You know what..." Flamepaw finally broke the chilling silence between everyone finally. Without even looking at her, Skinnypaw knew that what he said next was directed directly at her as he spoke in a low serious voice, "You'd be better off as a kittypet than a warrior."

Skinnypaw felt her heart, and her friendship with Flamepaw just shatter at those cruel words that left Flamepaw's mouth. Numbly, she looked down at her paws, bringing her claws in and out, she counted her claws. She only did it to avoid crying out loud. She knew how many claws she had, but still, she counted to try and distract herself from her crying.

"Annnd there goes any remaining respect I had for you. Wow, quite an achievement actually... Skinnypaw, you can sleep next to me tonight, if you'd like. I know you wouldn't want that pile of fox-dung next to you. At least I wouldn't." Graypaw huffed out.

"No... No thank you." Was all she could get out as she just walked over to her own bed. "I'd rather be alone..." She admitted. Clawing at her moss bed a bit, Skinnypaw slowly laid down and curled up alone in her bed. Once curled up, Skinnypaw softly hid her face into her paws and tried to stifle her sobs. She really didn't want to disturb the others as she quietly huffed and sobbed.

Suddenly, she stopped sobbing, as slowly her sadness turned into something much greater. Spite. Pure unadulterated spite towards her once friend.

Useless?! Her?! If it wasn't for _him_ waking _her_ up the other night they wouldn't have been here! If it wasn't for _him_ pushing her away and declaring that she go and find prey then maybe she wouldn't have fallen through the lake, and he wouldn't have gotten in so much trouble! How dare he blame _her_ when everything leading up to this was _his_ fault!

Seeing nothing but red, Skinnypaw had half a mind to go up to Flamepaw and claw his stupid ears off! But, she held herself back as she stared at him, her spite absolutely burning through her like fire. _Useless?!_ She'll show him! She was anything but useless! This spite was close to how she felt when she and Willowstorm fought over the squirrel, but this was stronger, much stronger.

Skinnypaw was not a kittypet! She'll never be a kittypet! No, and she wasn't going to give a mouse-brain, fox-dung smelling, piece of... well... FOX-DUNG! Like Flamepaw the satisfaction of seeing that he had made her cry. No...

Flamepaw brought out a burning rage in Skinnypaw that she had never felt before. She was going to show him. Show him alright! Clawing at her bed, Skinnypaw lowered her ears and snorted.

To think, she actually wondered if they were going to be mates.

* * *

The next day, Skinnypaw woke up bright and early, eagerly awaiting for her training with Jaytail. She wasn't going to let the snow bother her. Not today.

Flamepaw was already up, caring for the elder's first thing. The two of them said nothing to one another as they left the apprentice den. Flamepaw looked at her once he left the elder's den to get some mouse-bile, she caught his gaze and simply turned her head away from him.

"Ah, ready to star-"

"Yes! Let's go! I'm ready. What are we doing? Hunting? Battle training?" She asked quickly, cutting Jaytail off as she got closer to him with each word.

"Uh, for now, it's just a simple patrol, but it's nice to see you're up for anything." He gave her a nervous grin, before ushering towards the group that was forming for the patrol. Standing next to Pinknose, Skinnypaw looked up at the white she-cat, and they both just silently nodded at one another. Next to Pinknose was Cloudstorm, Graypaw, and Whiskerpaw.

"I'm just joining to collect herbs for Mooseleap," Whiskerpaw told Skinnypaw when he noticed her look of confusion. Skinnypaw nodded at him understandingly.

"Is everyone here?" Bearpelt asked Skinnypaw noticed that Flamepaw was not with the patrol, turning, she saw him still taking care of the elders. So he wouldn't be joining? Good. Turning she walked out of the camp with the rest of the patrol, her head high in the air. Keeping up with the rest of the patrol, they marked the territories and made sure everything was in place in their territory. They stopped to take a hunting break if they could find anything. Skinnypaw walked through the snow and smirked when she saw a skinny rabbit shifting through the snow. Getting on her hunches, Skinnypaw was so low to the ground that she could feel the cold snow go up into her nose. Narrowing her eyes, Skinnypaw wiggled her behind and then leaped. Pinning the rabbit to the ground, Skinnypaw hissed as the rabbit managed to scratch her cheek with its sharp claws. Grabbing the rabbit by the neck, she snapped its neck quickly and walked back through the snow with her catch.

"Oh, nice catch!" Jaytail mewed to her, she smiled and placed the rabbit down. She purred at the praise and nudged the rabbit towards her mentor.

"Here, you take it, I know you must be hungry," she mewed, knowing that the shortage of prey was affecting the warriors the worst now.

"Let's share it. Alright?" Jaytail nodded towards her. Skinnypaw nodded and together she and Jaytail silently ate the rabbit until there was nothing left. Licking their jowls clean, Jaytail hummed out as he stood and stretched. "I'm going to make dirt, I'll be back." He told the others as he trotted off towards the lake. Skinnypaw watched him go with a hint of amusement. Licking her paws clean, she looked at the other cats in the patrol. Whiskerpaw was currently sifting through the snow looking for any salvageable herbs.

After a while, the patrol was ready to get moving again, but Jaytail had yet to come back. Twitching her nose, Skinnypaw looked around, but still no Jaytail.

"I'll go, and look for him," Skinnypaw told them as she trotted forward. Moving through the bushes, she carefully walked closer towards the lake and paused. She saw Jaytail on one side of the lake talking to Flatnose, who was in her territory. Skinnypaw was surprised that she-cat hadn't given birth yet she was so large.

Skinnypaw found it rather odd, looking around, Skinnypaw lowered herself to the ground and crept closer to the tom. Perking her large ears up, she listened in.

"- I wish it wasn't like this." Flatnose mewed softly towards Jaytail. Her big round eyes shining happily at him.

"I know. I wish it wasn't like this either, but, there's nothing I can do," Jaytail responded to her as he kept his ears low. "... I have to go. I've been gone for too long..." Jaytail suddenly stood up. Skinnypaw flicked her ears, slowly she started to back up, she didn't want to be caught listening in. She only stopped when she saw Jaytail and Flatnose bump heads lovingly. Skinnypaw felt her eyes go wide at the realization.

Without any more hesitation, she turned and ran away. She knew she was caught because seconds later she could hear Jaytail yelling her name,

"Skinnypaw! Wait!"

To her surprise, Jaytail managed to catch up with her and stop her, by getting in front of her cutting her off.

"Wait..." He ordered slowly. "I don't know what you saw-"

"I saw enough!-"

"Skinnypaw, please... I... I love Flatnose, okay?"

"It's against the code-"

"I know it is, but, please try and understand. I love her. Once you fall in love, you'll understand how I feel, please, Skinnypaw, don't tell anyone." Jaytail whispered to her softly.

"Jaytail! Skinnypaw!" Bearpelt started asking for them in the distance, Skinnypaw could hear him getting closer.

"Please," Jaytail begged her softly.

"There you two are, where did you guys go?" Bearpelt asked as he emerged from the bushes. Skinnypaw looked at Jaytail, who now looked nervous as he looked back at her. She could see him, silently begging her with his eyes. Skinnypaw thought about how happy Flatnose looked as she got to bump heads with him. She wondered how it'd be like to find somebody like that.

"... I saw another rabbit... I couldn't get it this time around. I'm still beating myself up about it." Skinnypaw lied to the deputy quietly.

"I just caught up with her." Jaytail mewed to Bearpelt. Bearpelt gave them both a slight look before nodding slightly at them.

"Alright then, Skinnypaw, don't go running off, we don't need a repeat of what happened a few sunrises ago," Bearpelt told her sternly before turning. "Let's go, everyone is waiting for us." He ordered.

"Thank you," Jaytail whispered to her, before walking a head of her. Skinnypaw let out a soft sigh, she wondered if she did the right thing, but, watching Jaytail's long fluffy tail hang happily in the air, Skinnypaw only shook her head. Who was she to judge what Jaytail does with his life? She only hoped he knew just what he was doing.


	5. Chapter 5

If there is one thing Skinnypaw loved, it was the gathering. Meeting all the other cats from all the other clans. Thunderclan was the first clan to make it to the gathering. With Doestar, Bearpelt, Mooseleap, Whiskerpaw, Cloudstorm, Jaytail, Graypaw, Willowstorm, and Pinknose.

Second up was Shadowclan. Owlstar took her place next to Doestar.

Owlstar stood tall and proud. She's a brown tabby with black dark stripes and a white chest and white muzzle. Next to Owlstar was Muddypelt, her trusted deputy. Muddypelt looked like he rolled around in the mud. With a white underbelly, and legs, his paws were all brown, and his back was brown with large white spots. His entire face was brown as well. So his name was well deserved. Next to him was Darkmask, the Shadowclan medicine cat. Skinnypaw noted the silver tabby apprentice with thin gray stripes and large gray eyes next to Darkmask.

Out of all the other Shadowclan cats, Skinnypaw only recognized Featherfur, a white, orange, and black tortoiseshell, almost like Skinnypaw's own fur pattern. Next to Featherfur was Dusklight, a brilliant blue-gray she-cat with dazzling blue eyes.

Thankfully, not long after, Windclan came to the island. Dawnstar stood next to Owlstar, much like her, he was a brown tabby with bright yellow eyes. Next to him was Runningfoot, his deputy, a fully brown tom cat. Next to Runningfoot was the medicine cat, a light ginger she-cat with ginger tabby stripes, Poppyleaf was her name. Next to her was her apprentice, Snakepaw, like Dawnstar, Snakepaw was a dark brown tabby she-cat with black stripes.

Dapplepaw stood next to Ringtail, Ringtail was a white tom cat with a squashed in face. His tail was orange with tabby stripes around his tail. He was the brother to Flatnose, that was obvious with them both having squashed in faces. Next to Ringtail was someone Skinnypaw wished she could look like. Leaffeather.

Leaffeather was a pretty she-cat, she was white with a bright ginger spot on her back and one at the base of her feathery white tail with one orange paw. Her fur was so long and beautiful that she even had fur sticking out of her ears. She was everything Skinnypaw wanted to look like. Leaffeather swept by Skinnypaw without even looking towards the other direction. Skinnypaw breathed out as she watched the she-cat walked over towards the middle of the island, and just sit down alone. A part of Skinnypaw wanted to walk over and make conversation with Leaffeather, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Licking her paw, Skinnypaw swiped it over her ears a few times before sighing out deeply.

Finally, Riverclan was the last to join them. There was a Featherstar, the oldest leader out of everyone. She was a silver tabby with black stripes, she was missing her right ear, left eye, and tail. Skinnypaw wondered how long until she finally made it to Starclan. Next to her was Silvertiger, her deputy, and Firewhisker the medicine cat, next to Firewhisker was Yarrowpaw. Coming along was Shadepool, Sandfur, Sunflower, and Silverwhisker. The only apprentice in Riverclan was Sneakpaw.

"So," Willowstorm approached Skinnypaw and sat beside her. Skinnypaw looked at him before twitching her ears. "Are you cold?" He asked rather awkwardly. Truthfully, she was, with the fresh snow on the ground making her shake and shiver bitterly. Skinnypaw was trying to not show it, but it was honestly starting to get too much.

"Uh... Yeah..." She muttered back to him.

Willowstorm lightly side-stepped and sat close to her. So close that their sides touched, it made Skinnypaw's ears heat up as the tom stood beside her.

"I wanted to ask. Do you know who Sageleaf is?" Willowstorm asked her softly, almost in a whisper, like he didn't want anybody to hear him.

Skinnypaw narrowed her eyes as she tried to rack her brain, Sageleaf, that name sounded familiar, but she just couldn't think of anybody with that name. With a shrug, Skinnypaw told the truth, "No idea."

Willowstorm frowned but said nothing to it. "Alright then. Skinnypaw... there's something I-"

"Alright, let's get this gathering started." Owlstar put it plainly as she silenced everybody. Skinnypaw and Willowstorm both looked up as Owlstar shook her pelt quickly, before starting. "Shadowclan is glad to welcome, Barkpaw, Midnightpaw, and Moonpaw as new honorable apprentices." There was a low murmur amongst the other cats all giving their congratulations to the new apprentices. Skinnypaw looked around and wondered if Moonpaw was the cat next to Darkmask.

"The prey in Shadowclan has been dwindling, and an outbreak of whitecough as unfortunately started amongst the elders." Owlstar backed out, signaling her end.

Doestar stepped forward and started retelling everything that Skinnypaw already knew. Willowstorm and Mintstare became warriors, the prey was dwindling as well, and that was really about it.

Next came Dawnstar, and in all honesty, Skinnypaw was curious about what was going with Windclan. She honestly wondered if Flatnose had her kits.

"Windclan has been blessed with Flatnose and her three new kits, Fernkit, Brownkit, and Heartkit." Dawnstar started off, Skinnypaw noticed Jaytail's tail seemed to twitch happily at the mention of Flatnose and her kits. Skinnypaw only sighed out before lightly shaking her pelt clear of any dust. Dawnstar sniffed briefly before nodding to Featherstar, it was at that moment that everyone realized that the old leader had fallen asleep at her rock.

Everyone started to chuckle at the leader who was just snoring away. Silvertiger let out a sigh before jumping up and shaking Featherstar awake. Featherstar snorted loudly. Standing up sleepily, the old leader yawned before finally speaking.

"Uh. Yes. Riverclan... Riverclan has been seeing a good amount of prey for Greenleaf- huh?"

Silvertiger whispered to Featherstar, and her one good ear twitched as Silvertiger spoke.

"Oh... right, uh, well... Sneakpaw has become a warrior, she is now Sneakfoot."

Everyone gave Sneakfoot their congratulations as they tried to hold in their snickering.

Featherstar let out another yawn before laying back down on her rock ready to fall back asleep. Skinnypaw chuckled as Silvertiger only shook his head and tapped Featherstar's shoulder. Featherstar woke up once more, and after that, the gathering ended. Everyone started to leave, Skinnypaw sniffed softly and looked over at Willowstorm.

"Well, that was uneventful," Skinnypaw spoke to Willowstorm.

"I guess it's better than everyone being at each other's throats," Willowstorm shrugged in response to her. "Featherstar has to be on her last life, she just has to be." Willowstorm chuckled softly.

"Yes. Oh, what did you want to tell me earlier?" Skinnypaw asked him as they started walking across the log.

"Oh... it's just... nothing, forget it, okay?" Willowstorm sighed before trotting away from her. Skinnypaw frowned as he walked away, but said nothing to him. Shaking her pelt once again, she only sighed out deeply, wondering just what was up with Willowstorm?

* * *

A few days passed with really no incident, Skinnypaw and Flamepaw still haven't spoken to each other for almost an entire week now. Skinnypaw didn't mind, it gave her more time to focus on her training in all honesty. Jaytail has been training her hard, she was becoming close to being a warrior, she could feel it. Walking through the freshly lain snow before her, Skinnypaw let out soft pained hisses as her paws were starting to go painfully numb. She needed to rest for now, but she also needed to hunt. Prey was getting scarce, very scarce to the point that Skinnypaw wondered if they were going to have enough for everybody tonight. So that's why she was currently out hunting, she had gotten permission from both Doestar and Jaytail that it was alright, only if she came back before sundown that was.

Making her way through the snow, kicking her legs up in the air with each painful step, she then stopped and lifted her head. She was smelling Windclan. That wasn't a good thing. Following the scent, she walked through the snow until she got towards the lake. She almost didn't see the cat, the white cat blended well with the snow.

"Hey! Redeyes! What are you doing?!" Skinnypaw demanded as she went rushing towards the white she-cat.

"... It's Coldfang." Coldfang turned to face Skinnypaw, Coldfang's yellow eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Still! You're passed the Windclan... boarder..." Skinnypaw looked down at Coldfang's feet, under the she-cat's mighty paws laid a dead rabbit. "Leave, and leave the rabbit. It belongs to Thunderclan..." Skinnypaw growled.

"Excuse me? Who are you to tell me what to do?" Coldfang snarled deeply, getting to Skinnypaw's face.

"I'm the cat that will rip your ears to shreds if you don't leave!" Skinnypaw declared boldly. Coldfang clearly didn't need any more prompting as she charged tackling Skinnypaw to the ground.

"Let's see you try then!" Coldfang bit into Skinnypaw's neck, instantly Skinnypaw started to claw up and down Coldfang's head, she could feel her claws dig into Coldfang's flesh and with no care she yanked them down, earning a yowl from the older she-cat. Coldfang got up and off of Skinnypaw. Skinnypaw could see the three deep claw marks running down the top of Coldfang's head. "... You're going to pay for that!" Coldfang charged again, Skinnypaw, still on her side, got up quickly, but not quick enough as Coldfang now had Skinnypaw's neck in her mouth.

"Get off of me!" Skinnypaw snarled deeply. She quickly brought her paw up and with a quick swipe of her claws, Skinnypaw got one of Coldfang's yellow eyes. That only enraged the she-cat more as Coldfang suddenly managed to pick Skinnypaw up just enough so her toes only just grazed the snow below her. Skinnypaw yowled loudly as a pain suddenly erupted from her neck, with a sudden brute force Skinnypaw has never seen in another cat before, she was thrown to the ground like she was absolutely nothing.

"Skinnypaw is it? Well, they should call you Twigpaw, because that's about how strong you truly are!" Coldfang snapped. Skinnypaw groaned as she tried to get up, her shoulder hurt, she wondered if it had popped out of its socket when Coldfang threw her. Still, she stood, determined to end this. Coldfang was bleeding from her eye where Skinnypaw had got her. Still, the she-cat looked like it wasn't even bothering her. "Oh, this is just too cute, really it is," Coldfang asked softly.

"That rabbit belongs to Thunderclan-"

"I know, that's why I killed it. I got bored, and wondered just who I was going to fight for this piece of meat." Coldfang chuckled madly.

"... Why are you telling me this?" Skinnypaw asked her, truly confused.

"Because I'm going to kill you." With that being said, Coldfang charged for the third time, however, this time Skinnypaw was better prepared. Charging toward Coldfang, the two collided, but not in the way Coldfang wanted.

Skinnypaw had headbutted the she-cat harshly in the chest, knocking the wind right out of her and causing Coldfang to go flying back into the snow. Coldfang lied there for a few seconds, wheezing painfully. Truthfully, all Skinnypaw saw were stars at the moment as she felt really dizzy.

Coldfang, still wheezing, only stood to her feet, and without another word, walked back to the Windclan border. "This... isn't... over..." Coldfang breathed out breathlessly. Skinnypaw breathed out before collapsing in the snow. She hadn't had even noticed the scratches all over her body until she felt the fidged air hit them. Still, she wasn't useless! Forcing herself up to her paws. Skinnypaw grabbed the rabbit and tiredly limped back to camp.

She could hear her breathing in her ears, she felt weak and tired. Still, she trudged through the thick snow. Her paws felt heavy, but somehow, she made it back to camp. Go through the entrance, it wasn't even a second before she heard somebody yell, "Great Starclan!"

* * *

 _"- I won't let you touch her!"_

 _Skinnykit looked up to see her mother. Nakedpelt was on top of another cat, a black and white cat. She was shaking her head viciously side to side. All Skinnykit heard was a loud 'snap' followed by a wet gurgle. Nakedpelt only moved a bit, before sitting up and letting out a low sob. "Starclan... what have I done. I had to. I had to..." Nakedpelt mewed over and over. Skinnykit tried to walk to her mother, but couldn't. All she could do was stumble weakly from side to side. Skinnykit let out weak mews as she called for her mother, all she wanted was her mother's warmth the coldness of leaf-bare slowly seeping around her, making her shiver. Thankfully, she finally got it as Nakedpelt walked over and held Skinnykit close._

 _"Shush little one. You're safe now... He will never go near you again. I love you." Her mother leaned down and lapped at Skinnykit's head giving her a sense of comfort. "I know Thunderclan will take us in. They have to... I can't return to Skyclan... I just can't, what I ever I do. I will do for you. You know that I hope you do."_

* * *

Skinnypaw woke with a groan, her head was pounding horribly.

"-So you just want me here?" Cloudstorm's voice echoed around her. Looking up, she could see the warrior, almost literally on top of her. His fur helping her warm up.

"Yes, that's fine," Mooseleap responded as he walked on past the two of the two of them. He then stopped when he noticed that Skinnypaw was awake. "Oh. Good morning." Mooseleap greeted her. Cloudstorm looked down at her as Skinnypaw seemed to recollect her bearings.

"What happened?" Skinnypaw finally asked as she tried to stand. Instantly, Cloudstorm put his paw on her back forcing her to lay back down.

"Well, I was hoping you'd tell me. You came into camp looking like you were in some sort of battle. We could smell Windclan all over the rabbit you had in your jaws." Mooseleap told her softly as he laid down in front of her.

Skinnypaw's eyes went wide as the memory of her and Coldfang came rushing back into her mind. "I need to talk to Doestar!" Skinnypaw tried to get up once again, but like before, Cloudstorm put his paw on her back, forcing her down once again.

"You aren't going anywhere." Mooseleap sternly told the apprentice. "I will inform Doestar that you need her, but right now you're still too weak to be moving about." With that, Mooseleap left, leaving Skinnypaw with Cloudstorm. Looking up at him she only blinked before resting her head against his shoulder. Cloudstorm only put his head against hers.

"Your mother is worried about you, but Mooseleap won't let her see you yet," Cloudstorm informed her softly.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just know that he needed me more than her, he said you were absolutely freezing. Willowstorm wanted to help, but he had a patrol to do."

"How long was I asleep for?"

"Since you returned yesterday-"

Doestar and Mooseleap walked into the Medicine den.

"What happened?" Doestar asked instantly as she sat in front of Skinnypaw.

Slowly Skinnypaw started to explain what had happened, Coldfang, the rabbit, and the attack between the two. Doestar's ears went back bitterly the farther along the story Skinnypaw went.

"Well, you did the right thing, Skinnypaw. I'll have to have a word with Dawnstar about this. Coldfang won't get away with this. I swear. Get some rest." Doestar mewed softly to Skinnypaw. Skinnypaw honestly didn't need much more than that, despite just waking up she was exhausted. Resting her head, Skinnypaw dosed off for some much-needed sleep, thankfully, she had a dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Skinnypaw felt like fox-dung, that was the first thing she noticed in the morning. Her head was pounding, she couldn't breathe out of her nose, she was freezing, and any bit of movement took all of her strength, and any type of breathing made her chest feel horribly heavy. Lifting her head she groaned out weakly and forced herself to her paws. Her vision became blurry for a second as she suddenly leaned against the cave to the medicine den.

"Skinnypaw? Is everything alright?" Willowstorm asked her as he silently padded over to her.

She wasn't going to be useless.

"I'm fine," She lied even she knew that didn't sound convincing. Willowstorm only gave her a look.

"Uh-huh, and I'm the leader," He snapped a bit. "Lay down, you're clearly sick, doesn't surprise me, between you running out in the snow like you have the thickest pelt in all of the clan, and the fight that happened between you and Coldfang yesterday, you need to rest."

"I can't..." She whined as she tiredly rested her head against the wall, she couldn't hold herself up any longer and fell back down.

"C'mon, stop being stubborn, just get some rest."

"I can't."

Why?"

"Because, I don't want to be useless," She confessed in her sickened haze.

"Useless? Why would you think you are useless?" He asked her as he laid down beside her.

"Flamepaw called me useless because I can't handle the snow..." She paused to sniffle her nose was starting to run.

"Skinnypaw... you're going to make me say it, aren't you?" Willowstorm put his tail on his tail on her back.

"Say what?" She rested her head against his shoulder, "You're so warm." She mewed.

"Skinnypaw, you're not useless, Flamepaw is a mouse-brain for not seeing what was great right in front of him. He was more concerned about being a warrior that he never thought to put your feelings into consideration, and only thought of himself. If he called you useless then he's the useless one. Skinnypaw, you're good in your own way and Flameblaze is just a fox-hearted furball." Willowstorm put it plain and simple.

"No, he was being truthful..." Skinnypaw sniffled again as she rubbed against his shoulder.

"No, Skinnypaw he wasn't. You aren't useless."

"You and your siblings think so, you think I'm ugly..." She sniffled again.

"Skinnypaw, you aren't ugly. I... I find you pretty," Willowstorm confessed. Skinnypaw yawned as she rubbed her head against his shoulder once again,

"I find you pretty too, Willowstorm..."

* * *

"It's whitecough," Mooseleap told Nakedpelt softly outside of the medicine den. "I keep telling Willowstorm to leave that he'll get it, but he refuses to do so," Mooseleap sighed deeply as he looked back into see Willowstorm keeping a sleeping Skinnypaw warm. "It's been two nights now."

"Whitecough? That's not good, she could get Greencough!"

"Please, Nakedpelt, keep calm, I already fed her cat mint, and gave Willowstorm some as well," Mooseleap told her, Nakedpelt let out a low sigh.

"I'm sorry, I've just been on edge, Doestar refuses to do anything about what Windclan did, that cat tried to kill my daughter and Doestar doesn't want to cause a rift between Windclan and Thunderclan. 'All the clans are at peace for the first time in a long time, I don't want to be the one to ruin that,'" Nakedpelt mocked openly. "My daughter gets injured, and she doesn't even bat an eye-"

"Nakedpelt, please she'll hear you. You know Doestar's word is law, if she doesn't want to enrage Dawnstar, then that's her choice." Mooseleap told the she-cat calmly. Gently he put his tail on her shoulder to calm her down. Nakedpelt let out a soft sigh before calming down.

"Mooseleap, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be here right now... Not even Doestar wanted us... but, because she's your sister, I won't press her, but if Windclan does something like this again, I will be forced to fight for my daughter," Nakedpelt finally spoke to him.

"I understand, you've always done what you could for Skinnypaw. Also before I forget. Here, some borage," Mooseleap handed her the herbs and Nakedpelt scoffed.

"I hate this stuff." She complained loudly as she leaned down and started to eat the herbs, not while complaining the whole time.

"Stop your bellyaching, I'll make you eat a whole bush if you keep it up," He laughed at her.

"I'll be shoving it down your throat before it comes to that, moose-brain."

Mooseleap laughed heartily at Nakedpelt his whiskers twitching softly. "Still... get some rest Nakedpelt, this stress isn't good for you and you know it,"

"Yeah... good night. Mooseleap."

"Good night, Nakedpelt."

* * *

Skinnypaw let out low hacking coughs, she could feel something coming out of her throat as she continued to hack and cough. Standing up, alarming Willowstorm, Skinnypaw finally coughed up a small furball.

"Your fur is too long," Skinnypaw groaned as she laid back down.

"Aw, did the wittle kit get her first furball?" Willowstorm falsely cooed at her. Skinnypaw laid on top of her legs and sniffled loudly. "How are you feeling?" Willowstorm asked now more serious.

"I... I don't know really, just give me a few more days. I'm sure I'll get better,"

"Willowstorm." Doestar came into the den. "It's time for you to leave the medicine den. I know you're worried about Skinnypaw, but you still have duties to perform." Doestar spoke in a cool voice to the newly warrior.

"Yeah... I guess I should leave now..." Willowstorm mumbled, However; he did not move.

"... You aren't moving, Wilowstorm." Doestar bluntly put it.

"Right. Look, I'll be back after... hunting. I'll get you some fresh-kill." Willowstorm told Skinnypaw as he finally moved. Skinnypaw instantly missed his warmth next to her.

"Ok.. thank you." She mewed to him. Willowstorm smiled at her before trotting away. Once he was gone, Doestar looked over at Skinnypaw and sat next to her. It gave her some warmth, but not as much as Willowstorm had.

"Listen... Skinnypaw, I think we need to have a talk." Doestar started slowly.

"Yes, is something wrong?" Skinnypaw asked as she sniffled loudly.

"Well, it's just, Skinnypaw you are aware that the clans are currently all at peace with one another, yes?" Doestar asked her.

"I wouldn't exactly call us 'at peace', but you're getting somewhere with this I take it?"

"Yes. What I'm going to tell you isn't going to be easy, but Skinnypaw, I think it's for the best if we don't fight Windclan over what happened."

"What? But you told me Coldfang won't get away with what she did!" Skinnypaw protested. She wanted to say more, but her throat became dry, and before she knew it she was coughing again.

"Please, don't get me wrong, we've doubled our patrols, and are keeping a look out for her-"

"-and then you'll do what? Give her a stern talking to?" Skinnypaw couldn't help but snap back.

"You will not talk to me like that, Skinnypaw!" Doestar bristled at her. Skinnypaw scowled deeply; however, she did not respond to Doestar this time around. There was a moment of silence between the two of them before Skinnypaw just let out a big huff,

 _'I was told stories of Thunderclan being a great clan, but now, we let the other clans walk all over us because we want to maintain peace. Peace between clans is a lie.'_ Skinnypaw thought as she rested her head against her leg softly.

"Well, I hope you understand that it's for the best in the long-run," Doestar softly told her as she stood up, "Try and get better." Doestar finished as she walked away.

Skinnypaw scowled as she shifted in her bed. Coughing loudly, Skinnypaw felt a bit of mucus fall out of her mouth. Weakly she sniffled and curled up tightly into a ball. ' _Maybe it is for the best...'_ she thought to herself as she started to drift off to sleep.

* * *

"Skinnypaw, I got you a vole," Willowstorm lightly tapped her away, Skinnypaw lifted her head and sleepily looked up at him. She really wasn't feeling all that good and didn't want anything to eat.

"I'm not hungry, you can have it," Skinnypaw mewed tiredly as she shifted in her bed.

"Skinnypaw, you've barely eaten in the last few sunrises, you need your strength."

"I'm fine, seriously, I know you've probably haven't eaten in a while."

Willowstorm let out a bit of a scoff before resting next to her. "Let's share it?"

"... Alright," She mewed softly. Together the two of them ate the vole. Skinnypaw only took a couple of bites, she really wasn't all that hungry, but she ate to make Willowstorm happy.

"Willowstorm, I do think you need to leave, and sleep with the other warriors if you aren't sick." Whiskerpaw huffed as he came into the den.

"I'm fine here," Willowstorm told Whiskerpaw.

"You could get whitecough from Skinnypaw, or worse, greencough." Whisperpaw told him.

Willowstorm looked at Skinnypaw, the she-cat already asleep again. "I'll risk it." He spoke softly to Whiskerpaw. "She's running a fever, it's the middle of winter, she hardly has any fur to keep her warm, let me stay to warm her up."

Whiskerpaw's whiskers twitched in irritation before he just turned and walked over to the pile of herbs in the back of the den. Willowstrom only snorted softly before resting his head on Skinnypaw's back. She was shivering in her sleep. Willowstorm yawned loudly, he was ready to, hopefully, get some sleep tonight.


	7. Chapter 7

Skinnypaw wasn't the only one to get struck with Whitecough. Her mother came down with it, which wasn't too much of a surprise, Pinknose had it as well, but thanks to Mooseleap and Whiskerpaw, everyone made it through the Leaf-bare without getting Greencough. It was starting to get warmer now, the snow was melting which made Skinnypaw insanely grateful. Her whitecough now gone, Skinnypaw got back to being an apprentice almost instantly.

Prey was still pretty scarce, it was showing with all of them being rather skinny, skinny by even Skinnypaw's standards. Her ribs were poking out, Nakedpelt and Skinnypaw both showed just how badly prey was needed in the clan. It was still nice to no longer be sick, but she was still really hungry.

"Skinnypaw, are your claws sharp?" Jaytail asked her as she left the apprentice den.

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"No reason, no reason... so I'm going to leave hunting alone to you today, alright?" Jaytail told her simply as he looked up at the bright blue sky as the sun beamed down on them, though the sun didn't give them any warmth on that cold day.

"Oh, alright. Who knows, maybe with the snow gone I can find something good," She mumbled to herself before turning and trotting out of the camp without farther prompting. She was starting to become hungry and that hunger was making her a tad testy. Every day she wondered if she was turning more and more into her mother. Going into the forest, Skinnypaw looked at the trees, they were still bare, it'll be a while until they get their leaves back. Breathing out peacefully she padded onward. Looking and listening for any nearby prey Skinnypaw kept her ears up high as she searched for anything. She stopped for a moment at the soft nose of something chewing.

Getting down low, she slowly stalked forward. She saw it, at first she thought it was some sort of weird mouse, because that's what it looked like. A chubby tiny mouse chewing on a thin blade of grass. The small mouse had orange fur, that's right, orange fur. It was so odd to her, but with her mouth was salivating at the strange plump mouse. Licking jowls, Skinnypaw wiggled a bit before jumping and pouncing on the creature. The thing actually shrieked at her and tried to get away, but she didn't care, she snapped it's neck. It took all of her strength to not devour the creature, instead she buried it and saved it for the elders or queens who needed it more than she did.

Moving on, Skinnypaw searched around, her ears twitching slightly as she heard another noise. Going towards it, she stopped when she saw a white rabbit shifting through the snow at a fast rate. Skinnypaw was hungry and seeing that rabbit made her stomach rumble loudly, still she knew better than to rush after the plump animal she got down low and waited for a heartbeat before leaping and killing the white rabbit. That was when she heard a loud squeaking, twitching her ears, she looked over to where the rabbit was, and moved the ground around. She then let out a loud gasp. There where the rabbit was standing, was about... she paused to count the little heads, about seven little heads of baby rabbits. They weren't big, at all, they were still blind but this could help the clan greatly! Without hesitation, she picked up the ten babies and killed them off one by one. That was when she heard someone behind her. Turning she was Jaytail.

"Jaytail! Look what I found," She excitedly yelled as she showed him the bodies.

"Good job, that'll help the clan out a lot," Jaytail quickly helped her bury the prey before giving her a soft nod, "I think you're ready."

"Ready?"

"To be a warrior."

Skinnypaw's eyes widened at what Jaytail had told her, "What? are you serious? You think I'm ready? I just got lucky!" Skinnypaw spoke rapidly, "I mean anyone could have found that nest and-"

"Skinnypaw, I think you're ready to be a warrior for many reasons, yes this was a nice find that'll help the clan, but you've shown that you can hold your own against a full-grown warrior from Windclan, also even though you've been sick you've grown too tall for the apprentice den," Jaytail told her as he stood next to her to show that she had indeed grown. She was as tall as he was, not counting her large ears. "I'll help you carry the prey back to camp."

With Jaytail's help, they carried the weird mouse and rabbits back to the camp. Like she thought the rabbit babies helped out a loud, nobody went too hungry for the night.

"Good job with all that prey you found." Willowstorm congratulated her as he licked some blood off of her muzzle making her ears heat up.

"Oh, thank you," She giggled softly.

That was when Flamepaw waltzed right past them, he said nothing, didn't even look at them. He grabbed one of the babies from the pile and walked away into the elder's den. Skinnypaw sighed softly, truthfully, she kind of missed him. Now that she was back into the apprentice den it was just her, Flamepaw, Blackpaw, and Graypaw, nobody wanted her to snuggle with them during the colder moons. Plus, Flamepaw was starting to look... well, sad and alone.

"Mouse-brain-Where are you going?" Willowstorm asked as Skinnypaw walked away

Walking into the elder den Skinnypaw watched as Flamepaw gave the baby rabbit to Featherbelly, and Flowertail the old she-cat lifted her head up and happily ate the baby rabbit. Flamepaw turned and blinked at Skinnypaw.

"I already fed the elders or did you not just see that?" Flamepaw asked as he walked right past her.

"Are you going to keep being a mouse-brain or do you want to talk?" Skinnypaw asked as she turned to face him.

"Don't be fighting in here, apprentices." Flowertail snapped slightly, the old queen took notice of the tension between the two of them really fast.

"I want to talk to you, in the apprentice den." Skinnypaw walked past Flamepaw quickly to the apprentice den. She heard Flamepaw sigh out. Sitting at her mossbed she didn't have to wait long for Flamepaw as he came into the den.

"What?" He asked with a bit of an attitude.

"Look, I want to continue being your friend, but I can't if you keep being a mouse-brain then you'll just end up alone with that attitude of yours," Skinnypaw put it bluntly as she pointed at him. "I know, it's irritating, I also know that you will be a warrior, it's bound to happen sooner or later, Flamepaw, but you can't blame others for your mistakes otherwise... you'll just be unhappy all the time, blaming everybody else... just... think about it, okay." Skinnypaw turned and walked out of the apprentice den. Hopefully, Flamepaw will finally start thinking about other cats instead of himself.

* * *

"I, Doestar, leader of Thunderclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. They has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn." Doestar called out loudly to everybody. Skinnypaw felt her paws tingle as she looked excitedly at Graypaw.

"Skinnypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Doestar called to her and Skinnypaw felt her breath get caught in her throat excitedly.

"I...I do!" She breathed out excitedly.

"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Skinnypaw, from this moment you will be known as Skinnybreeze. Starclan honors your dedication and enthusiasm, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan."

Doestar placed her on Skinnybreeze's head. Skinnybreeze sucked in a deep breath before licking Doestar's shoulder.

Skinnybreeze stepped to the side and allowed Doestar to turn to Graypaw.

"'Graypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life?" Doestar asked Graypaw who nodded,

"I do!"

"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Graypaw, from this moment you will be known as Graycloud. Starclan honors your courage and honesty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan." Doestar then repeated the process with Graycloud. Happily, he licked her shoulder before sitting next to Skinnybreeze, the two of them grinned at one another before turning back to the clan.

"Skinnybreeze! Graycloud!" The cats all called out loudly. Skinnybreeze knew she was beaming as she looked down at the cats below and smiled, finally, it happened.

"You two will now hold a silent vigil for the night," Doestar ordered, "Thank you for understanding..." She whispered to Skinnybreeze before walking down. Skinnybreeze smiled before walking with Graycloud to the entrance of the camp.

"Hey, when you finish your vigil, don't be shy about sharing a bed with me, okay?" Willowstorm told her before walking off to the warrior's den. Skinnybreeze felt pride rush through her. Still, she kept quiet and before sitting at the camp entrance with Graycloud. The two stayed quiet and watched the entrance.

* * *

Skinnybreeze felt like she was about fall flat on her face. She was exhausted, but she knew better than to fall asleep. Thankfully, the sun started to rise. The sun rise was beautiful as the pink hues rose up turning the black sky a beautiful pink and blue combination.

"Skinnybreeze..." Jaytail walked up to her, forcing her to look back at him. "Are you two ready to be relieved?"

They both nodded silently and Jaytail chuckled, "alright, get going you two."

Both of them still stayed silent as they tiredly walked into the warrior den. Willowstorm opened one of his eyes when they entered the den. He then perked up, and tiredly looked up at the two. Skinnybreeze took up his offer and laid beside him. Willowstorm chuckled at her before letting out a soft "oof!" as Graycloud practically rested on Willowstorm's back. Willowstorm twitched his ear at Graycloud. Mintstare decided to join in as she rested next to Skinnybreeze. Skinnybreeze giggled as Mintstare laid her head on Skinnybreeze's back. Skinnybreeze sniffed before resting her head under Willowstorm's chin and happily purred. It didn't take long for her to finally fall asleep.

* * *

Skinnybreeze opened her eyes sleepily before stretching out, and licking her paw and swiping it over her ear. Getting up she shook her pelt free of moss.

"Skinnybreeze, wait," Nakedpelt walked up to her, Skinnybreeze looked at her mother, and sniffed for a moment. "I need to talk to you, alone. Let's go for a little hunt."

Skinnybreeze looked at her mother a little confused before walking out of the camp with her mother. They walked up to the lake where they stopped abruptly. Nakedpelt looked down at the water before looking at Skinnybreeze.

"You're old enough to know the truth now," Nakedpelt told Skinnybreeze.

"What truth?"

"Skinnybreeze there's a reason why I left Skyclan and why I never went back to them."

"Why?"

"Skinnybreeze, your father...Sage... Sageleaf..." Her mother stopped and paused, swallowed deeply as she seemed to just be lost in thought for a moment. "...Oh Starclan, Skinnybreeze..."

"What? What did he do?"

"Oh Skinnybreeze, he tried to kill you after you were born."


End file.
